And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

Mark 3:31-35

And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Mark 3:34

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 3:34, which is the text for the second division for 3:31-35. Excerpts from the commentary for the second division: 

• "The room is overflowing with those who were attracted to Jesus. They loved His miracles and exorcisms. They loved the show and what He could do for them. Remember, the crowds are never viewed in a favorable light in Mark. Crowds do not follow and stay for the long haul. Individuals do, of their own volition and decision. Hence Jesus looked around at those who were seated around Him."
• "People follow Jesus for different reasons and with different agendas. Some reasons are good and others are bad. Some want Him; others want what He can give them and do for them. Some follow for who He is; others follow for what they make Him out to be. They want someone they can fit into their world, wants, plans, priorities, and preconceived notions."
• The commentary then points us to John 2:23-25 where the text is pointed in this respect - we should not follow Jesus because of we want to follow someone who "can fit into [our] world, wants, plans, priorities, and preconceived notions."  No, we should follow Jesus because He alone saves, and provides life to the full now - unshackled from the slavery of sin.  It's not that we stop sinning, it's that Jesus makes us a new creation and we become more like Him every day until we meet Him in Heaven face to face and the sanctification process becomes complete.    

Jesus is not just a good role model - I made this mistake early in my journey with Christ - I thought I should follow Jesus because He was Holy and I could become more like Him.  While this may be true, it is insufficient - we must acknowledge our sin and that Jesus alone saves us from sin.  We must confess with our hearts our sin, seek Jesus to forgive us and for Him to enter our heart and lives, and we must follow His call for our lives (as each of us play a role in the church and Great Commission). Romans 10:10.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves us and who died for us so that we can have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and abundance of life now - free from the slavery of sin.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You save...my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

John 12

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:24-25

I continue to lean on DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion, which today looks at Jesus's words as the hour approached for Him to be crucified. John Piper, in stark terms, lays out how, if we take Jesus's words to heart, we should not be bothered or concerned about our earthly circumstances.  He writes:

"If men speak well of you, it doesn’t matter much.
If they hate you, it doesn’t matter much.
If you have a lot of things, it doesn’t matter much.
If you have little, it doesn’t matter much.
If you are persecuted or lied about, it doesn’t matter much.
If you are famous or unheard of, it doesn’t matter much.
If you have died with Christ, these things just don’t matter much."

Piper uses the grain of wheat analogy to illustrate how it falls to the ground yet produces fruit to have us understand how our own death as believers leads to eternal life with Christ - bearing fruit a human mind can only begin to fathom.  We are urged to read v26 as well as Jesus exhorts us to "follow him" and of course this means all the way to the end - to the cross and to death.  The devotion wraps with Piper moving to Acts 20:24 and how Paul writes:

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24

Piper calls this "radical commitment to ministry" and he urges believers to share in this commitment as Paul and Jesus did.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who went to the cross for me - so that I could have forgiveness of sins, fullness of life in Christ now and for eternity - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

I continue my study of Hebrews, and today my focus is Hebrews 13:7-14, and and I am assisted in my understanding by the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary Series for Hebrews. The commentary outlines four divisions for this text:

I. Remember Your Leaders: Here, the commentary surmises that the use of "remember" vs "honor, respect or greet" is used likely due to how many leaders likely were martyred at the time Hebrews was written; it also emphasizes how discipleship is not just learning from the teaching of leaders but also from their practices in their daily living.

II. Remember Your Savior: We also encouraged to see - in v8 - how Jesus does not change.  We are referred to Malachi 3:6, one of many scripture references that make this point.  The commentary shares: "[w]e can rest in the absolute confidence that he will never change."

III. Do Not Be Led Astray: V8 provides a foundational truth for us to avoid being led astray by either clinging to Old Testament external practices (i.e. with foods) that no longer apply for readers of Hebrews, or to fashionable trends that seek to change our faith to suit the times. 

IV. Go Outside the Camp: Here, the commentary describes how the text uses the Old Testament practice of burning sacrificed food outside the camp, and how that directs us to follow Jesus as He was sacrificed outside Jerusalem.  It shares: "[f]ollowing Jesus means joining him outside the camp. The writer’s people were tempted to find their identity in Judaism and the old covenant."  The commentary wraps by pointing to the last verse of today's text - v14 - and how "we anticipate an everlasting city. Our hope is not in the fading city of man, it’s in the enduring city of God. We wait for an eschatological city, the heavenly Jerusalem."

Comment and discuss this this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and You are worthy of worship and imitation - You are spotless, and full of grace and compassion for how You offer the only path to forgiveness and eternal life.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You bless as You do.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Daniel 11

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

I continue my study of Daniel in conjunction with a disciple/small group study with my church's men's wake up call. This morning my focus is Daniel 11:21-45 as I lean on my commentary for this text.  The commentary's main idea for this text is that "God reigns sovereign over the greatest enemies of his people and even uses those enemies for his own purposes."  It shares two primary divisions for this text:

I. God Raised Up a Contemptible Person to Refine, Purify, and Sanctify His People (11:21-35): Here, the commentary discusses how Daniel's vision prophecies the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes (who reigned from 175-163 BC), and how his wicked and sinful reign led to great suffering of God's people. Yet as we see with other periods of suffering throughout scripture, it is in response to sin and used to purify and sanctify God's people. 

II. God Will Raise Up the Antichrist, Who Will Exalt and Magnify Himself as God (11:36-45). This section of scripture is discussed by the commentary as being markedly different in terms of redemptive history, as the commentary shares that the antichrist highlighted here and the ensuing conflict is reflective of end times.

The commentary urges us to see Jesus in all scripture and here is no exception.  We are urged to see the contrast between Antiochus/Antichrist and Jesus and provided the below table to highlight the differences.  Once again, take heart that God overcomes (John 16:33).

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace, compassion, and You save!  Thank You for how You speak to me and all believers and give us peace and confidence knowing that You have already won the victory over sin and death!  I am not deserving of how You save.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Daniel 11

 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:1-2

I continue my study of Daniel in conjunction with a disciple/small group study with my church's men's wake up call. This morning my focus is Daniel 11:1-20 as I lean on my commentary for this text.  Here the commentary focuses on how God orchestrates the rise and fall of kingdoms; in particular - Medo-Persia, Greece, Egypt and Syria - for His glory and purpose. It refers to the broader historical context around the subject of Daniel's vision/prophecies as the "four hundred silent years" - during which God is silent (in terms of God speaking to the people - i.e. through a prophet) - approximately from when the book of Malachi is written to the incarnation of Jesus.  Despite the focus on conflict and the rise and fall of earthly authorities, the commentary seeks for us to understand how God reigns and is sovereign, and how we should look to Him, not the world for who to follow.  The commentary shares these key points as it wraps in its examination of this text:

•  "Our God is sovereign and omniscient, knowing the future to the smallest detail. He can predict the future with pinpoint accuracy.  [E]arthly rulers are mere pawns in the sovereign hands of an omnipotent and providential God."
• "Man in his depravity, pride, and sin has a bloodlust for power and possessions. This is the story of human history since the fall, and it will continue to be our legacy until the return of God’s King and the inauguration of his kingdom."
• "[God's] kingdom is not a fly-by-night empire that is here today and gone tomorrow, an empire and kingdom that is little more than dust in the wind!"
• "In Christ pride gives way to humility, and wanting more and more gives way to giving and serving others. A passion to build my kingdom gives way to a passion to build God’s kingdom! Learn from the mistakes and sins of men and women from the past who pursued earthly gain and not heavenly reward. Avoid the pitfalls of pride and greed; instead, pursue Christ and his traits of humility, generosity, and service."

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God who loves and who has saved me...and You provide for all of my needs, never leaving of forsaking me.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving Jesus of all these blessings...my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.”

Matthew 27

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” Matthew 27:65

I pause in my study of Daniel to listen to DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotional, which today encourages us to follow Jesus as "we cannot lose."  John Piper uses Matthew 27:65 as the text for today, and shares how it was a losing proposition from the start for the the Pharisees to guard Jesus's tomb.  He refers to John 10:17-18 where Jesus says:

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. John 10:17-18

No one took took Jesus's life - He willingly laid down His life.  And because He has the power and it was to fulfill scripture, Jesus rose again. Piper goes on to share how Christ was working in death, and He is always at work, including in the dark places.  There is no place Jesus can go, regardless of the day or time or circumstances, where He does not reign and have complete authority and dominion.  We should be encouraged to follow Him.  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Jesus, You are an awesome God and You reign - giving us victory over sin and death, and confidence to follow You.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You bless me and allow me to share in a glorious inheritance - thank You Jesus!  Yet again, I am not deserving.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 14-15

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-6

This morning, I continued my study of Romans.  Using my commentary - Exalting Jesus in Romans (eBook) - I continued with chapter eighteen Gospel Unity, which covers Romans 14:1-15:13.  My focus today is v15:1-13, which my commentary refers to under the heading "The Lord's Example." In these verses, Paul builds on my discussion yesterday to further the case for church unity. We are encouraged to see how we have "an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves" (v15:1).  I know I too often seek to please myself, whether that is out of being right or to just find comfort by lack of action - convicting indeed! We are again told to build others up (v15:2). We are reminded of Christ's example that He did not seek the easy path of pleasing himself but instead willingly submitted His life for us - see v15:3. Paul tells us that we should review our Old Testament to find hope to follow Christ's example and "to live in such harmony with with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (v15:5-6).  We exist to glorify God - remember this! OT is referenced that we should be clear about God's saving plan as it was written in the OT - therefore we should not stand in the way of God's great design and work - unite among believers, weak and strong - we are all brothers and sisters in Christ!  Paul wraps up today's verses by providing scripture from Psalm 18:49, 2 Samuel 22:50, Deuteronomy 32:43, Psalm 117:1-2, and Isaiah 11:10. 

My commentary stress humility - so that we may put the needs of others first.  

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, when I have been weak - You have placed other more mature believers in my path to build me up...to strengthen me in my faith - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessing.  My sin continues...worry, etc. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.